Airlines’ profits fall in 4th quarter, but show improvement for all of 2012

The nation’s 10 largest airlines, as a group, recorded a net loss of $145 million in the last quarter of 2012, compared to a $602 million loss in the fourth quarter of 2011, the Department of Transportation said Tuesday.

The losses came after two quarters of profits.

The 10 airlines carried 76.1 percent of U.S. airlines’ scheduled passengers in the last three months of the year.

For the full year, all U.S. passenger airlines as a group reported revenue of $159.5 billion. They collected a total of $3.5 billion in baggage fees and $2.6 billion from reservation change fees last year.

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